End of the 21st Century
by AzureFlx
Summary: The journey was difficult enough in a world where people used swords and believed in witchcraft, but how will Tia fare in modern times when magic is a myth, monsters shouldn't exist, and school is still an important priority? UPDATE: VOTE FOR THE PAIRING
1. Chapter 1: The Chosen One

Summary: When the world nears its end, the book of prophecy reveals itself to a single chosen individual. The chosen one must then record down anything in the current world that would be worth having in the new world. The journey was difficult enough in a world where the existence of monsters was common sense, but how will Tia fare in the modern world full of scepticism and its own mundane troubles?

Disclaimer: I do not own Avalon Code or any of the characters and such I may use in this fanfic.

Author's Notes: Basically, this is the story of DS game Avalon Code in the modern world. Of course, there will be some differences in the general plot and etc… In the beginning I'd intended to use an original character, but after thinking about it for about 5 minutes I decided to just use the female main character from the game, Tia.

For now it's rated K+ since I don't see any reason, yet, for this story to be rated any higher. As for pairings… I've yet to decide.

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"Tia! Wake up!" Louder than an alarm clock and about eight times more persistent, a certain fire spirit was shouting in her ear.

"Mm… Just five more minutes…" With a frown, the girl pulled her blanket over her face as she tried to ignore him. "It's Sunday… Let me sleep in…"

When an unexpected silence followed, she wondered if Rempo had finally given up and was going to let her sleep in that morning. Curious, she pulled her blanket back down and peeked around her room. Instead of seeing the expected scowl and a look of frustration, however, she found him hovering over her desk with an evil grin on his face.

"Oh I remember… This was a _very_ important assignment you wanted to get done as quickly as possible, right?" If his hands weren't shackled, he would have undoubtedly rubbed them together. "Whattaya think'll happen if it suddenly caught on fire?"

"Eep! I'm up, I'm up! Just leave my essay alone, please! I stayed up all night writing that!" She immediately jumped out of bed and quickly grabbed the small pile of paper, hugging it close in a defensive position.

With a scoff, the tiny spirit circled around her and muttered, "I really don't see how that thing can be more important than going around recording stuff for the new world."

Yes, somehow, for an unknown reason, she had become the chosen one for the book of prophecy. Her troubles all began a couple days back when she was relaxing, as usually, at Sunny Hill. She found the fire spirit's bookmark, and a mysterious book suddenly came out of the stone monolith. The world was dying and she had been chosen to record all things of importance for the new world.

"I know, that's a really important task but…" She hesitantly began, "I just can't really accept it. All of a sudden you tell me that the world is going to end and I'm responsible for creating the new world, that's just really hard to believe."

"What?!" Crying out in disbelief, he flew right in front of the girl's face and said, "You mean after doing all that test scanning, kicking monster butt, you [i]still[/i] don't believe in the book of prophecy?!"

"No, no!" Afraid of what may happen, Tia quickly denied it. Even though he had been partially correct. "I just mean it's hard to believe that [i]I'm[/i] the one that has to do all of that."

"Sure you can! You can read the book, you pulled a sword out of it and kicked ass. No other proof needed, you're the chosen one! Now that that's cleared up, let's go and do more scanning!"

In the few days Rempo was with her, it became glaringly obvious that he was very impulsive and short tempered. Today was no exception. Every minute, no, every second of each and every day he constantly reminded her about the duty that was imposed on her. Go and scan important stuff for the book of prophecy, hurry up and explore new places…

Normally she would try her best to convince him to let her continue with her normal, daily life. However, being a Sunday, she had an entire day to spare. "Alright, just let me get ready to go out then."

"Woohoo!" Rempo raised his shackled arms into the air as he obediently stepped out of her room to give her some privacy. He was glad that she was finally going to go out and fulfill her duties. All the other days he'd been with her the girl constantly said something about school and how she needed to continue studying. Well, what good was studying when the world was going to end anyway?

Stepping out of her room, Tia clutched the book in her hands and asked, "Alright. What should we do today?"

"Well, we need to start recording more into the book of prophecy, so why not start with your hometown? Just go around and slap everything with the book!"

She gave Rempo a small sheepish grin as she walked out the front door and locked it behind it. At the moment, it was almost a blessing she lived alone. There was no way she would be able to explain this to her parents if they were alive.

"Come on Tia, the Sun's gonna set at this rate!"

"Alright." She whispered. The girl dearly wished Rempo would remember that unlike him, [i]her[/i] voice could still be heard by others. She had no desire to be labelled a crazy girl who talked to an imaginary friend. It was bad enough she was going around slapping people and various objects with a 'magical' book, if it weren't for the wonderful fact that no one was ever aware of her scanning, she would never have accepted the job at all.

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Good idea? Bad idea? Please review!

For anybody who may STILL be hoping for an update in my D. Gray-Man fanfic (although I doubt anyone would wait a year or so), sorry, I'll get on that once I remember where I was going with that story.


	2. Chapter 2: Fana

Disclaimer: I won't bother with these from now on. I have one up in the first chapter, so let's assume that will cover all the chapters to come.

Author's Notes: I'm very grateful to the people who reviewed on the first chapter. To be honest, I didn't really expect any until another 2 chapters or so.

I also realized that for some reason I put BBC codes in the first chapter for the italics… Oops, I will go back and edit that later.

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Bam! With another slap from the book, the flower became engraved into the pages with all of its data revealed for the chosen one to read, save the meaning of course. It was amazing just how little she knew about the world around her. People whom she'd known for years, flowers she had thought to be mere weeds, everything was brought into a unique light in the book of prophecy.

Rempo, on the other hand, was enjoying himself in a different way. Now that Tia was finally doing her job properly, he could go around and see this strange world for himself. He had to admit that the world had certainly taken a course of its own from its first creation. Gone were the cobblestone paths and 2-story houses, instead there were concrete roads paved away for strange vehicles and ridiculously tall buildings that put castles to shame. And the humans! So many people crowded the streets, and it was rather difficult trying to follow Tia without bumping into anyone. No, the city was definitely a lot more populated than the towns he was used to. In the city, one could live out their entire lives without getting to know _half_ the people who lived here.

"Ooh, Tia, what's that?! I see a huge crowd over there, is it that interesting?" Poking her in the shoulder, the fire spirit gestured towards a crowd of people that was beginning to form a messy line.

"That's a bus, it's like a car only anyone can use it if they pay a small fee." She explained in a low whisper, "People ride it to get to places faster."

"Wow, can we ride it sometime?"

Looking at his excited face, the girl didn't have the heart to say no. Personally she didn't think riding the bus was much fun, but Rempo made it sound as though they were going to ride a rollercoaster at an amusement park. With a nod she replied, "We will, but we need to go to a different stop first. That bus doesn't go to our destination."

"Speaking of which, where _are_ we going anyway?" He inquired.

"The hospital."

"Why, you don't look sick to me."

"We're going to visit someone." Seeing the unusually determined expression on her face, the fire spirit decided to wait and see what it was all about.

At the hospital, an elderly woman greeted them with a gentle smile, "Ah, Tia. Here to visit Fana?"

"Wow, you know this bag of bones?"

Inwardly wincing, she pushed Rempo's rude question off to the side, glad that no one else could hear him. "Hello Helen. I was in the area and thought I should visit her."

"She'll be delighted to see you." Helen nodded, then taking out a piece of paper she scribbled something on it and held it out to Tia. "Here, I wrote her room number and some simple directions, although I don't think you'll have much trouble finding it. Tell Fana I just need to go home to pick something up and that I'll be right back."

"Thank you, I'll pass the message on." Tia waved as the old woman left the hospital and wondered how it must have felt; having to return to a home knowing the only family member who could welcome you back was hospitalized.

Following the directions, she walked along the halls looking for Fana's room. As she walked, Rempo said, "You should've recorded the woman's data in the book."

"Sorry, I forgot. I'll do that the next time I see her." Actually, she hadn't forgotten. Even though she knew no one was ever aware of getting hit by the book, she couldn't help but be worried about the consequences should she make some sort of mistake and literally slap them with the hard cover.

Luckily, before he could pursue the topic, he suddenly stopped in front of a door and called out, "Hey, isn't this the room you're looking for?"

"Oh, you're right, thanks Rempo." As the fire spirit puffed out his chest and began saying something along the lines of not needing to praise the great Rempo, she opened the door and stepped inside.

"Good morning Tia, thanks for coming to visit." The ill girl smiled brightly at her visitor.

"Hello Fana. Helen said she'd be right back."

"Okay, thanks." Then patting a wooden chair beside the bed Fana suggested, "Here, why don't you have a seat?"

Saying thanks, Tia sat down. Meanwhile, Rempo hovered just inches away from Fana's face as he stared at her. Looking at the sickly girl, he could guess why Tia wanted to come to the hospital. "Go on Tia, slap her with the book!"

She really wished he would word it differently. Trying her best not to look worried or nervous, she held the book out in her hands as she got ready to scan her friend. For a moment, Fana's eyes followed the book as it came down on her. As always, however, she soon just had a puzzled look on her face wondering if something had happened. Rempo cheered, "Good job! The girl won't ever know what hit her!"

"What's that book? I've never seen it before." Fana asked, curiously staring at the unusually ornate cover.

"Um, this..? It's um…" She didn't really want to lie to a friend, but she couldn't quite bring herself to say the truth. Hesitantly she replied, "… The book of prophecy."

"Oh, a fiction? It looks interesting, can I take a look?" Ignoring Rempo's disgruntled stare, she handed the book over to Fana. After just a few seconds of flipping through, however, Fana simply returned it saying, "I can't read those letters at all. It's pretty cool that you're reading a foreign book Tia."

"Well duh, only the chosen one can read it!" Despite saying so, the fire spirit went over to Tia and began scolding her, "Still, don't just hand it over to people, ya hear me?! That's a _very_ important book, completely one-of-a-kind and absolutely irreplaceable, don't let _anyone_ else lay a finger on it!"

"Rempo, don't be so paranoid. She's my friend, and what could she possible do to the book?"

"Eh, did you say something Tia?"

"Um, I was just wondering if you were feeling any better."

"I do now," The girl had a very warm smile on her face. "Thanks to your visiting. If it weren't for you I'd hardly know anything about what goes on outside the hospital."

"It's my pleasure." For the first time in quite a while, Tia could genuinely smile at her ill friend. That was because this visit would be different. She wouldn't just have to keep praying for Fana's recovery, she could make it a reality. Opening the book to Fana's page, she looked at her attributes and the codes written done. As she'd thought, there was the code responsible for her illness. "I'm sure you'll get better soon, then we'll be able to go to all the places I talked about."

Chuckling, Fana replied, "That's a promise then. As soon as I get better, you're going to show me around again. I'm sure a lot has changed since I got hospitalized."

They continued to chat about various things, what was going on in school, if anything interesting was happening… It wasn't until Helen came in that Tia got up to leave. "Sorry Fana, I should get going now."

"Alright, thanks for visiting." Fana have a small wave in goodbye.

"Thank you for visiting Fana, you'll come again won't you?" Helen asked.

"Of course." Then secretly thought, '_Only next time Fana will be able to visit me instead.'_

"Here, you must be hungry, it's getting close to lunch." Reaching into a small picnic basket, the elderly woman produced a loaf of bread and offered it to her. "It's freshly baked, I hope you'll like it."

"Thank you." Tia accepted the bread then turning to Fana she said, "Bye, I'll come again."

As soon as she left the hospital behind, the girl entered a secluded alley and opened the book to Fana's page. She'd only tried changing the codes for the sword once, but theoretically speaking it should work for her friend too. Just by removing the ill code, the rust had disappeared and the sword became like new. '_Now, it's Fana's turn to get better.'_ With that thought, she tried to remove the code from Fana's page. Only, it wouldn't come out. She tried, again and again, but the code refused to move.

"Rempo, what's going on?!" She asked with a hint of desperation.

"Whoa, calm down!" Who would have guessed that the short-tempered fire spirit would ever tell someone _else_ to stay calm? "Just let me see that… Oh."

Tia didn't like the sound of the 'oh' he breathed out after reading the codes. "What is it?"

"That girl… She doesn't have much time left." He began with the obvious, "I get what you want to do but it's not possible right now."

Before Tia could say anything else he hastily continued, "But don't worry! We'll be able to do it! We just need a little more information before we can use the book's power!" He felt sorry for Fana, but inwardly he was grateful that she had such a serious illness. It seemed to give Tia the motivation she needed to _really_ start the legend.

With a determined nod the girl replied, "Okay. Just tell me what I need to do."

--

I feel very worried that this chapter will seem boring to people, especially since there's hardly any difference to the game. Luckily, I don't plan on writing _all_ the character-related events in this fanfic, so nobody will have to re-read what they already did in the game too many times. Fana just happened to be what I deem to be an important exception.

Once again, reviews are much appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3: Small Steps

Author's Notes: Thank you for those that reviewed my last 2 chapters, and even those that are just taking the time to read this fanfic. It's very soothing when someone tells me that they liked my writing or the idea of the overall fanfic, it makes me feel that perhaps I shouldn't keep expecting the worst out of my chapters.

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Somehow, things had become even more complicated and difficult than they were already. As if knowing the end of the world as approaching and being forced into the task of helping to create the next world wasn't enough, there were certain responsibilities that Rempo had failed to warn her about… Until now.

-_The day before-_

"_What do I need to do to save Fana?" The girl asked._

"_Um… I'm not too sure, actually." The fire spirit quickly averted his gaze and pretended not to notice the girl staring at him in disbelief. "Look, all I know is that that ill code is locked in there. There are certain conditions to removing those sort of things, but I don't know exactly what we need to do for that one."_

_He waited for a reply, but Tia either had nothing to say or was unable to find the words to describe her thoughts. "Look, I promise that we'll find a way alright? I'm sure once we strengthen the book of prophecy and gather the other spirits, we'll be able to help that girl out!"_

"_?" Snapping out of it, she stared at him in confusion and asked, "Um, what was that last part?"_

"_We'll find a way to cure her." He repeated._

"_No, I mean before that."_

"_Strengthen the book of prophecy and gather the other spirits?"_

"_You mean you're not the only one?" Tia already knew the answer, but she couldn't help but feel the need to confirm this._

"_Oh, didn't I mention it before?" Rempo moved closer to tap the book lightly as he explained, "See, in total there are 4 guardian spirits that protect the book. You already have me, so there's just 3 more spirits you hafta meet: Mieli, Neaki, and Ur."_

_With a frown she continued, "But why do I have to gather them? You just came and helped me out when I first got the book."_

"_Heh heh, I know, wasn't I helpful?" Rempo seemed to take every acknowledge of his deeds, no matter how small, as a compliment. As it was, he puffed out his chest a bit as he continued, "The others are sorta scattered around the place and sealed in bookmarks, like this one."_

_With a bit of difficulty due to the shackles, he pulled his red bookmark out and put it on top of the book of prophecy. "Normally getting out would be no problem but… Yeah, these shackles are a bit troublesome so they can't get out unless the chosen one frees them."_

_She was beginning to get quite worried at this point. "But they're nearby, right?"_

"_Err… I doubt it, actually. If anyone of them were nearby, I'd be able to feel it."_

_-End of flashback.-_

To make matters worse, Rempo didn't have an idea as to where the other spirits may be. The only 'hint' he offered was, "_Why don't you ask around?_" Needless to say, that was not helpful in the least.

Suddenly, she became aware of a person looming over her and calling out her name.

"Um, yes?" She looked up to see the english teacher, Kamui staring down at her.

"Tia, you realize that you need to hand that journal in at the end of class right? I think you should get back to work."

"Sorry Mr. Kamui…" Muttering an apology, she redirected her attention to the nearly blank page in front of her. She had a lot on her mind, and none of it had anything to do with writing a reflective journal.

" '_I think you should get back to work~!' _" A muffled voice came from inside her bag, repeating the teacher's words with a mocking tone. "Pfft! Who does he think he is anyway, bossing people around like that?"

If anyone else in the class had been staring near Tia's direction, they would've found it very spooky to see a bag suddenly unzip itself. Of course, what they couldn't see was the spirit jumping out from the bag with a cross expression on his face.

"That bag is _way_ too crowded, way to treat a guardian spirit Tia. I think you even crumpled my bookmark a bit."

She let out a small defeated sigh as she half-heartedly listened to Rempo's complaints. She really wished that he would try not to make her talk in public so much. Whispering, the girl begged, "Please Rempo, just stay in my bag for a bit longer! I'll be able to get out for lunch in a couple more minutes."

"Oh come on! Do you know how stuffy it is in there?" He scowled as he waved a shackled arm at the bag. "I don't even see how it matters, remember? You're the only one that can see me."

By the end of class, she had been unsuccessful in completing the journal or convincing Rempo to stay still in her bag. In the end, she had to drag herself over to the teacher's desk to hand in her half-finished journal with a sheepish look on her face. As always, Mr. Kamui had a lovely vase full of exotic flowers on his desk. He often explained the meaning of the flowers during class as a way of inspiring his students.

Looking at her half-finished journal he sighed, "Just try to remain focused next time, okay?"

"Hmm… I don't think we have these yet." Rempo commented as he looked at the flowers in the vase. Tia couldn't help but wince at the thought of having to slam a book on the teacher's desk.

"Is something wrong?"

"Um, no, something just got caught in my eye…" Hastily slinging her bag over her shoulder, she walked over to the door with Rempo unwillingly following behind her. "Bye Mr. Kamui, I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Why didn't you scan anything Tia?!" Rempo demanded to know as she quickly sped through the hallway. "That was a perfect chance to scan that teacher and learn about another flower!"

"Sorry, but I just can't do it!" Then seeing a few heads turn their way, she quickly lowered her voice as she walked on, "I just don't feel comfortable hitting things with the book yet."

"That's why you need to do it more often to get practice!"

Tia opened her mouth to reply, but got interrupted when she bumped into someone. "Ow, sorry!" After saying a quick apology, she quickly ran to find a more secluded area in the school where they could talk in peace.

She ended up hiding in the library between two wide shelves full of non-fiction books. The girl sat down on the floor and watched as the fire spirit moved a couple books to the side to make space between them. He sat on a shelf at her eye-level, ready to grill out some answers.

"You're not going to tell me you can't do this, are you?" It seemed to be a rhetorical question as Rempo was more or less glaring at her.

"No… I just need some time to get used to it…" She avoided his gaze and instead stared down at the floor.

"Look, as much as I'd like to let you do that, we don't have that kind of luxury. The fact that you have the book and I'm out of my seal means that the end of the world is drawing close, the sooner we get things done, the better."

"I know…" She knew, it was a big responsibility and after what she'd seen, there was no denying the truth. Still, she couldn't help but expect that she was going to wake up all of a sudden, realizing that everything had just been a dream. It was a fight between her conscious and unconscious mind; there were plenty of evidence to prove that what was happening could either be real or simply fiction.

A sort of stifling silence came over. Rempo was wondering where he should take this conversation, he was trying to decide between backing out a little and encouraging the girl with reassurance that she could do this, or continue pushing with the 'wake-up' call and telling her to just get with the program. He was on the brink of making a decision when he heard footsteps approaching them.

"Ah, this where you were…"

Tia looked up to see a very familiar, scowling face looking down at her. Still not quite ready to speak, she gave him a sheepish grin and a wave.

"At least tell me if you're not gonna eat in the cafeteria," Rex complained as he sat down beside her, "I feel stupid for waiting that long with my stomach growling."

"Sorry…" She mumbled out her third apology in the half-hour.

"Geeze, it's a joke. Don't take it to heart." He told her with a sigh, "Besides I don't need a second, though it was for another thing."

"Huh?"

"You bumped into me in the hall," The boy explained, "I would've followed you to ask why you were in such a rush, but I'd thought I'd see you in the cafeteria so I didn't bother."

"Sorry… Oww!" As soon as her apology ended, Tia cried out in pain as Rex pinched her cheek.

"I. Said. I. Don't. Need. Another. Apology." As if to emphasize, he pulled her cheek a little more everytime he added another word to his sentence. Luckily, he decided seven painful tugs were enough so he let go immediately after the final word.

"Ow…" As she rubbed her sore and now-red cheek, Rempo left the bookshelf and began hovering beside her.

With a rather bemused expression, the fire spirit asked, "So… Got any problems about slapping this guy with the book?"

In a very childish gesture, Tia puffed a cheek out and shook her head.

"Then go for it!" Being overly enthusiastic about the whole thing, Rempo unzipped Tia's bag for her and let out a small chuckle as she held the book above her head and swung it down with all her might.

"Hey, wha-" Interrupted in mid-sentence, Rex's data became a part of the book of prophecy as she slammed the open pages down on his head. It actually felt satisfying quite good to be able to hit someone as hard as you could without any sort of consequences afterwards. The confused look on her best friend was just a small bonus. "… For some reason, I could swear something was about to hit me just now."

The girl did her best to ignore the fire spirit mimicking the action of slamming something down over Rex's head and replied, "I didn't see anything though."

"Yeah, must've been my imagination…" The boy muttered to himself. Then ruffling her hair he got up and gave a small wave. "I need to finish something up for my next class so see ya. And watch where you're going in the hall."

"I will, see you Rex." Smiling, she returned his wave as he left.

"And here I thought you were a nice quiet girl." As soon as Rex was out of sight, Rempo shook his head with mock surprise. "Guess you just can't judge a book by its cover."

Blushing she replied, "It's not like you weren't encouraging me to do it."

"Yup, and I'm still telling you to keep it up." He grinned, "I guess we can give some of the more trivial stuff for later, so I'll let you off the hook for not scanning enough. We should first look for the rest of the guardian spirits."

Tia nodded, relieved at the fact that he probably wasn't going to be as pushy about scanning everything, but a little worried at actually having to look for the other three spirits.

Then crossing his legs in the air his brows knitted together as he tried some serious thinking… For once. "Well, the thing is, I really doubt that any of the spirits are going to be hanging around the city. They're usually sealed somewhere more… Natural, and fitting their element."

"When you said that they probably weren't nearby, is there still a chance that they might be in a different part of the city?"

"Well, how big is the city anyway? It's obviously a lot bigger than a town."

"Um…" Making circles in the air, Tia did her best to try to explain how big it might be. "Well… A city can hold several millions of people so… Um…"

"Wow, that sounds pretty big. Maybe they _are_ still within the city." Still not quite used to the century, Rempo had actually forgotten that many people live in apartments and not individual houses. He tried to imagine how big a city would be if there were millions of houses stretched far across the land.

"Really? I hope so." A smile came on the girl's face when she realized that perhaps she wouldn't have to go so far afterall.

"That was just a… Oh forget it. So that settles it! We'll first look for the other spirits, _then_ worry about the next world's creation!" He didn't want to ruin the sudden good mood, so Rempo decided not to mention the fact that it was only a guess that perhaps at least one of them would still be within the city's borders.

--

For some reason, I wasn't very happy with this chapter. I can't put my finger on it, but I thought there were parts I really wanted to change, only I couldn't find them… I think one of them probably has to do with how I incorporated Kamui into the story. Honestly though, he has a better role as a teacher than in my first draft where he was the strange lonely, freelance writer who happened to live in Tia's neighborhood.

As always, reviews are much appreciated and thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4: Insurance & Honesty

Author's Notes: I'm actually quite proud that I was able to dish out the previous 3 chapters in a relatively short period of time. The coming chapters will be coming out a bit slower since I've taken up a summer job and such, but I hope I can still keep your interests. I really thank the people who favourited this story and even those who are merely reading in silence. I am especially thankful to C.M. Kearney for her diligent reviews. :)

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"Hmm… Hmmmm… I think it would be fine… Probably…"

Sitting on top of her desk, Rempo stared at the troubled girl with a look of confusion and disbelief. For some reason, Tia kept re-reading a single sheet of paper over and over with an unsure expression on her face. Every once in a while she would talk aloud, sigh, or groan.

If it weren't for her natural tendency to treat everything with care, there was little doubt that the offending sheets of paper would've been greatly crumpled and difficult to read by now. As it was, Tia continued to pace around the room with one specific page constantly held out in front of her.

"Mmm… But maybe not…" Another sigh escaped her lips. "But then what should I do..?"

"Grrrr!" Unable to take it any longer, Rempo flew right up to Tia's face and demanded, "Enough pacing around Tia! What's the problem anyway? Usually only two things worry you this much, the book of prophecy and 'important' assignments."

Startled, it took her a moment to recover before answering, "Oh, it's a form for a trip."

"And?" Cocking an eyebrow, the fire spirit was clearly communicating with his eyes, '_You think I know what that means?'_

"Sometimes the school decides to get the students out together on a small excursion." She explained, "It says here that we're to a botanical garden in about three days but…"

"But..?" He was beginning to get rather impatient with the constant need to prod the conversation along.

"Um… We need to get a parent or guardian to sign this form before we can go." She murmured solemnly.

"Hmm… Speaking of which, you don't seem to have any parents right?" It was oddly comforting to hear Rempo ask such a question without a single hesitation. It pained her to see people constantly apologize upon bringing such a topic up, looking at her with pity.

"They passed away just a few years ago." She confirmed, "Legally speaking I became adopted by a relative but the truth is… I've only met him once or twice."

"How does that work?"

"Well it seems that I didn't actually have any close relatives left. My parents were both an only child in their family and my grandparents had long gone. The person who adopted me rather distant, I think he was my dad's 4th cousin, meaning we only shared common great-grandparents.

No one else would take me in, so he reluctantly decided to adopt me. But he figured I was pretty much old enough to take care of myself so…"

"He left you a house and ditched." As always, Rempo chose the most straight-forward and blunt words to finish her sentence. Inwardly, she winced. When he stated it so matter-of-factly, even _she_ felt a bit of self-pity.

"Um, it was a very sudden and big responsibility so it's not really that bad." She found himself automatically defending her legal guardian. "And he sends me money every 3 weeks or so, even though it's a pretty big imposition…"

Tia left her string of thoughts at a cliff and allowed her words to trail off. She didn't really feel the desire to continue the topic, especially considering the unconvinced scowl Rempo had on his face.

"So, the problem with this," He pointed at the sheets in the girl's hand with a shackled arm, "Is..?"

"Um, I'm not sure how I should get this signed." She told him with a sheepish expression. "I have a contact phone number, but I just don't think I should ask him to come over to sign something like this…"

"Eh, just sign it yourself!" Rempo waved his shackled arms around as though he was swatting the problem away. "He's only a guardian in name right? Since you're just taking care of yourself, that makes you the much more qualified guardian! There, problem solved!"

"That's considered forgery…"

"And..?"

"It's not a very good thing to do… Probably."

Rempo let out a huge groan. Sometimes this girl showed a lot of determination and spirit, but the next second she would be this sheepish little goody-two-shoes. "But you want to go right?"

"Yes…"

"Then sign it!"

_-The Following Day_-

"Anyone who has their form and money ready, give it to me on your way out."

Most of the students simply headed straight for the door but a few made a sloppy line in front of the teacher's desk. Walking towards the very end of the line, Tia took a longer route and first slammed the book on Kamui and the beautiful flowers still on his desk, causing a small moment of confusion for all who were present there. Before anyone snapped out of their daze, she quickly lined up with her head down in embarrassment.

"Ah, Tia. I'm glad to see you're able to come on the trip this time." Her teacher told her with a gentle smile.

"Let me guess, you kept chickening out and made up some excuse for not going instead of signing the forms." Rempo sighed. The girl could've sworn she felt an arrow go through her head when he continued, "Either way you're either forging a signature or deceiving your teacher. It's not like doing one is more honest than the other."

"Ah ha ha," With a nervous laugh she handed in an envelope with the trip fee and the form with a forged signature. "Here's the money and the form. Have a good day Mr. Kamui."

"You too Tia."

Unlike her companion Rempo who seemed to be enjoying the small turn of events, Tia walked out of the classroom with a small pit in her stomach. _'Is it really okay for someone responsible for the next world to do things like this? Ahh, no, I don't think it's okay. I'm sorry everyone, the new world is being created by a liar.'_ She was obviously thinking too much about her petty crime.

"Hey." A light smack hit her on the head as she walked through the halls. Of course, it was none other than Rex. "You're not gonna stand me up again are you?"

"No, I'll come." After grabbing their lunches, the two, three counting Rempo, made their way to the noisy cafeteria.

"And? Guess you're not coming on the trip this week right?" The boy asked a rhetorical question between bites. "It's just a garden so I doubt there'll be anything there, but tell me if you want a souvenir."

"No, actually I'm going this time." She replied with a smile. With a pained expression, Rex swallowed a bite full of his sandwich without chewing properly. Luckily he didn't choke, but it was painful to have something so big pass through his throat.

"And who do you think you should thank for that..?" Rempo asked beside her ear.

"Seriously? Wow, good for you Tia." Her friend congratulated her with a little straining on his part. He quickly took a long drink from his water bottle to help the chunk of food along. "Ah, much better."

"How do you usually get your forms signed anyway?" Despite being in a similar situation, Rex had never missed out on a trip unless he truly had a legitimate reason to do so.

"I just signed them, duh." He bluntly replied, "No one really cares anyway. The stupid principal and his cronies are just going through the standard procedure in case something _does_ happen and they run the risk of getting sued. As long as the form's signed, no matter who actually did it, lawyers would have a difficult time winning the case."

As troublesome as it was, there was little doubt that that the school administrators would sigh in relief that they indeed had all their paperwork done for the future excursion. For on that excursion, the one-in-a-thousand chance that something could go would indeed happen, and the forms that parents often signed without reading properly would finally serve a purpose.

--

Sorry, it's a pretty short chapter. I have no idea what Tia's family situation was, so I made up most of the stuff in this chapter. I don't think I've seen anything in the game that explains the main character's situation, but if there was, I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me.

On a side note, I am very happy to announce that this story has had 150+ hits and 80+ visitors! Apparently many people stop at the first chapter, but I am grateful, nevertheless, for those that bothered to even read the first chapter to the end.


	5. Who should Tia be paired with? OPEN

Author's Notes: Hello everyone, it's really been a while hasn't it? Well, I have two alright-great news and one bad news for anyone who may still be reading my stories. I'll begin with the bad news.

Bad News – Sorry, I don't have a new chapter for you. This entire 'chapter' consists of me, the author, telling the readers something.

Alright News(?) – I have not given up on this story and DO in fact have the story outline done, I just haven't written a version I could possibly show the public.

Great News(?) – I have created several general directions for how this fanfic will continue depending on what the main pairing is. Actually, there are still a few 'neutral' chapters which will NOT be affected by the pairing, but it's not ready yet... Anyway, I want people to start voting on which character you'd like to see paired up with Tia.

**I repeat: I want you, the readers, to vote for your favorite Tia x someone pairing. You may vote via PM, write a review, and/or vote in the poll I have up in my profile. You may vote as many times as you want, as long as my inbox does not become spammed. Meaning, I'd only want ONE vote and ONE review written per person, but technically you've already gotten a minimum of 3 votes (if you include voting at the poll once) so... Knock yourselves out, vote for your favorite guy at least 3 times.  
**

Unfortunately, the voting period will not be open for very long. I think I've honestly slacked off way too much so I'd like to resume writing the story ASAP. I do not know the exact deadline, but know that I probably will not wait over two weeks.

Okay, all that said, thank you very much for reading up until this point and... Happy voting!

P.S. Just in case.... I will not do Yuri (girl x girl).


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